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I received a letter from a friend who has retired in Odessa, Ukraine and has been living there for about 4 years. All of a sudden he is notified by the SSA that since he is retired and living in Ukraine, he will no longer receive his Social Security retirement check. Apparently the SSA does not approve of Ukraine as being a place where they are willing to send his funds. Does anyone know anything about this, and if there is an approved (or disapproved) list of countries where a person can retire to and still receive their Social Security benefits?

I just happened to have been in a meeting this morning with a representative of the SSA addressing this various topic.

It is true that there are some countries that SSA will not pay benefits for beneficiaries living there. Cuba and Vietnam were specifically mentioned but the representative did not know specifically about Ukraine.

I found this link that tells you which countries qualify and which don't but does not mention any reason why or why not.

Allen, I looked at the url you posted. The info there clearly shows that payments are being made to persons living in both Cuba and Ukraine.

What the info shows is that some countries (including Cuba and Ukraine) are not yet capable of receiving International direct deposits. But it shows people in Ukraine and Cuba having their SS payments direct deposited in a US bank, just as I suggested in my other posts.

I'm sorry to say that I am correct on this although I was not sure at first. The Treasury Department apparently has directives on what countries American citizen's receive payments in and Ukraine is not one of them. I agree with you that looking at the chart again it does appear that perhaps there are some payments being made but upon asking this question directly of my SSA contact she said that no payments are made to American citizens residing in Ukraine whether they request direct deposit in a U.S. or any other bank. Her answer as to the reason why was simply that it is a Treasury Department directive and they answer to congress. Given this information I would assume these directives are based upon what countries the current administration trusts.

Sorry for the bad news but I do hope it helps. Russia is a country that is available for SSA payment.

The documentation on the web site clearly states the case with Cuba and North Korea are Treasury Department directives. The cases with concerning FSU countries INCLUDING Ukraine, but EXCLUDING Russia are SSA policy. This has absolutely nothing to do with the countries capability of processing direct deposit. As a matter of fact, it states that if you provide false documentation you could be imprisoned or lose your social security. Read the web site I provided, but more than just paragraph 5.

My post here was in response to Allen's post. Go to the url that he posted and you will see that the SSA shows that they are actually direct depositing money (in US bank accounts) for people who live in Ukraine and Cuba. This is not my opinion. It is a fact provided by the SSA website.

Albert, you are looking at a chart and forming an opinion based solely upon data in that chart, not the wording in their written policy. Unless you notify SSA and specifically point out the incidence in the chart and discover the circumstance involving it/them you can't advise others that your opinion is indeed fact. Exceptions do appear in charts but they don't apply to everyone. The person receiving that payment may be an employee of the US Embassy or the spouse of an embassy employee. We don't know.

As a previous geneologist I can assure you there are many people who believe they are related to somebody completely outside their family tree because they "assumed".

why should they care? that's the most ludicrous excuse i have heard, but then we are dealing with a bunch bureaucrats. afterall, the only people not expected to be patriotic are gov. officials. the best thing to do is keep an address here and have a friend send the check or money his way.